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The Process of Photosynthesis (An Informational Process Analysis Paper) OUTLINE INTRODUCTION 1. Photosynthesis and its importance. 2. General background information on the process. 3. Definition of the process. 4. Statement of the thesis.
BODY 1.
Description with explanation of what hat happens during each step in the process, using time order. CONCLUSION 1. Paraphrase of the thesis. 2. Summary of the main steps in the process. 3. Review and re 0 taxation why the process is important. Abstract This is an informational process analysis of a biochemical phenomenon which involved the conversion of simple form of energies which goes through a very complicated and complex process.
The output of which are actually very basic substances essential and central to the existence of nearly all forms of organisms on Earth. Photosynthesis converts massive amount of energy from the sun into electrical and then chemical energy. The input is carbon dioxide (CO 2), water (H 2 O), minerals and light, and the outputs are carbohydrates (e. g. sucrose, glucose, starch) and oxygen that are most important and needed by certain organisms in order to survive (Hall & Rao 9).
Photosynthesis provides the basic energy source for virtually all organisms; food (simple sugars, starch, and carbohydrates) that most animals including humans need for nourishment and oxygen required, necessary and depended upon by most living organisms for their respiratory processes. The extremely important natural by-products of the process power almost all trophic chains and food webs on this planet (Walker 23, 30). Photosynthesis is process by which plants and certain other organisms that contain the pigment chlorophyll change light energy to chemical energy (i. e. carbon dioxide and water) which are then stored in the molecular bond of simple sugar glucose. These green plants, seaweeds, some algae (Kingdom Protest), and certain bacteria only need light energy, CO 2, and H 2 O to make sugar (Hall & Rao 11).
The process takes place in the chloroplasts, large, complex double membrane organelles found in mesophyll cells (in the leaves) of green plants that performs the function of photosynthesis within plant cells and contains the substance chlorophyll (Hall & Rao 11 - 12). This essay describes and explains the different stages of the plants conversion of light energy to electrical energy to chemical energy which eventually produces by-products essential to the sustenance of most living organism in this planet. The process of photosynthesis is definitely one of the most important biochemical pathways (series of chemical reactions) known to man since nearly all life on Earth depends on it. The process is a very simple system divided into two very important stages: light dependent reactions and light independent (dark) reactions. The first stage happens when solar energy is captured to make a molecule called ATP (adenosine triphosphate).
The organism possessing chlorophyll converts the light energy into electrical energy which is carried by electrons. This is similar to converted sunlight into electricity which can be used to power appliances. In the process of photosynthesis, the electrons are picked up by electron transport systems which use the energy to produce an energy carrying compound called ATP and a second compound, NADPH (the reduced form of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate NADP). Both compounds are necessary for the next main step, the "light independent reactions." The main process in the light independent reactions (Dark Reactions) of photosynthesis is known as the Calvin Cycle.
The cycle includes the incorporation of carbon dioxide into a five carbon molecule called ribose bi phosphate (Ru BP). Then in a series of chemical reactions, hydrogen and electrons from the compound NADPH are progressively added to form a simple, energy rich, phosphorylated carbohydrate called GP 3 or PGAL. The light independent (dark) reaction happens when CO 2 and energy from the ATP is used to make glucose (the Calvin Cycle). The PGAL is also necessary to produce glucose, sucrose and other carbohydrates for the use of the plant and eventually other organisms (Hall & Rao, Blacken ship, and Gregory). The stages of photosynthesis seems to be very simple, it only goes through two stages and the process is complete yet in a sense, it is an extremely complicated as it encompass the whole planet and its population; and it is quite a fascinating process because embodied in its simplicity is its direct involvement in the sustenance and survival of most living organisms on Earth. The beginning of the Earths existence seems to point to photosynthesis in which the sun's radiant energy that pours onto the earth everyday is turned into electrical energy needed to convert carbon dioxide, water and others into chemical energy producing by-products essential to and utilized by all living things as fuel for energy, and as building blocks to build more pieces of themselves.
Works Cited Page Blankenship, R. E. Molecular Mechanisms of Photosynthesis. Blackwell Science, 2002.
Gregory, R. P. F. Biochemistry of Photosynthesis. Belfast: Universities Press, 1971. Hall, D.
O. and K. K. Rao.
Photosynthesis. 6 th Edition, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1999. March, William N. A Life Science Lexicon. Dubuque, IA: Wm. C. Brown Publishers, 1992.
Walker, D. Energy, Plants and Man. Sheffield, U. K. : Oxy graphics, 1992.
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